Understanding Pain in Diabetic Neuropathy
Data Collected from Animals
Animal models are used throughout the medical field. They are very helpful in finding new treatments and understanding conditions more. However, animals cannot tell researchers everything they need to know. One integral part of many diabetics sensory profile is a numbness in limbs. Animals have no way of communicating this numbness.
There are ways to observe and speculate when an animal is feeling pain or sensations. It is closely linked with expected behavior of the animal. If they are avoiding a typical activity it can be assumed it is due to pain or a sensation that they are experiencing that is forcing them to avoid the situation.
Even with this in mind there is not way to know for sure what is causing the change in behavior of an animal. It cannot be directly translated into how a person may react to these studies. Using animal models for the varying sensory profiles of PDN patients could be very hard.
Knowing that animal models are not perfect in creating treatment plans for patients doctors and researchers are finding other ways to provide the best care. It all comes down to learning who the patient is and what their pain is like. They must learn where their pain develops from and what helps to stop this pain.
